Wind power has let us down.

[Jon651]

Wind energy does not seem so green when hundreds of non-recyclable fiberglass wind turbine blades are pictured piling up in just one landfill in Wyoming. Indestructible wind turbine blades can't easily be crushed, recycled or repurposed. Instead they are hacked into pieces small enough for a flatbed and hauled to landfills. About 8,000 of the blades are decommissioned in the U.S. every year.

If you think this is bad then you should take a look at the ash piles near every coal-fired powerplant in existence - even the "clean coal" ones. What is in those piles is horrifying - heavy metals, radioactives, toxins - basically everything not released into the atmosphere is dumped into a big pile. Frankly, I'd settle for a landfill full of old fiberglass wind turbine blades over what any coal plant leaves behind.

Regardless of where you are on the "Green" spectrum, here is a classic greenie question about energy that needs to be considered: If the wind stops blowing and the windmills stop turning, just how long does that usually last? In comparison, if you run out of fossil fuels for your powerplant, how long does that last?

The problem with renewable energy is that there is NOT ENOUGH. We need enough so that areas that produce a lot can support those areas that aren't producing enough when the sun don't shine and the wind don't blow. That's how interconnected grids work - a lesson Texas learned the hard way last winter...

 

[GaryS]

Nope, they don't like nuclear either. Despite the power shortage in CA, another reactor is shutting down.

When the wind dont blow and the Sun dont shine the greenies plan B is..nuclear. Makes good ole all natural crude oil look pretty sweet.

 

[GaryS]

The problem with solar and wind power is the Laws of Physics.

As far as interconnected grids, CA has rolling black outs every summer.

The real answer is nuclear power, but the so called environmental movement has made that almost impossible.

The problem with renewable energy is that there is NOT ENOUGH. We need enough so that areas that produce a lot can support those areas that aren't producing enough when the sun don't shine and the wind don't blow. That's how interconnected grids work - a lesson Texas learned the hard way last winter...

 

[Golddollar]

Move to Wash. DC - - plenty of wind there!

Or Harrisburg!

 

[delcrossv]

Nope, they don't like nuclear either. Despite the power shortage in CA, another reactor is shutting down.

Yep. Diablo Canyon provides almost 10% of California's demand.

Prager had a good quip: " It is simply not possible to believe fossil fuel emissions will destroy the world and, at the same time, oppose nuclear power. "

Yet they do. They do.

 

[delcrossv]

The problem with renewable energy is that there is NOT ENOUGH. We need enough so that areas that produce a lot can support those areas that aren't producing enough when the sun don't shine and the wind don't blow. That's how interconnected grids work - a lesson Texas learned the hard way last winter...

There'll NEVER be "enough". The numbers just don't work for so called "renewables".

 

[LDM]

"Green" energy has three outstanding characteristics. It's expensive, inefficient and unreliable. How many acres of solar panels and how many wind turbines are needed to generate the same electricity as a fossil-fueled power plant or, heaven forbid, a nuclear plant? When the sun doesn't shine and wind doesn't blow you're in the dark. As for hydro, how can anyone guarantee there'll be enough rain to keep them in operation? It's all too dependent on the caprices of Mother Nature.

 

[GaryS]

You had me right there!

"Green" energy has three outstanding characteristics. It's expensive, inefficient and unreliable. How many acres of solar panels and how many wind turbines are needed to generate the same electricity as a fossil-fueled power plant or, heaven forbid, a nuclear plant? When the sun doesn't shine and wind doesn't blow you're in the dark. As for hydro, how can anyone guarantee there'll be enough rain to keep them in operation? It's all too dependent on the caprices of Mother Nature.

 

[GaryS]

It won't, and that's by design.

I wonder how the grid will handle the additional electric vehicles in 2030?

 

[delcrossv]

"Green" energy has three outstanding characteristics. It's expensive, inefficient and unreliable.

To certain people, those are features, not bugs.

 

[WR Moore]

About "climate change". Due to a general lack of quality TV shows, I find myself watching a lot of archeological stuff. I've noticed something a lot of ancient sites have in common: they're now underwater. Depth seems to vary. The suspected Red Sea port of the first Egyptian dynasty (5000-5500 yrs ago) was about 70 feet down.

OK, some can be submerged due to major planetary events like volcanic eruptions, massive earthquakes and so on, but a lot are simply due to, well, rising sea levels. We know that historically, the earth has been both warmer & colder, but now, we've decided that we can somehow do something about it.

Kind of like not buying a house right below a big dam, not building on flood plains, barrier islands and on sea coasts seems logical to me, but I guess not to everyone. Mother Nature gonna win.

 

[walkinghorse]

Has the nuclear waste site in Nevada been cleared for use and being used? Or is nuclear waste still being store at each individual site?

* Read the wiki article and short answer is No, and waste is stored at each powerplant.
Political wrangling continue s to keep the site from operating as proposed and built.

 

[delcrossv]

Has the nuclear waste site in Nevada been cleared for use and being used? Or is nuclear waste still being store at each individual site?

* Read the wiki article and short answer is No, and waste is stored at each powerplant.
Political wrangling continue s to keep the site from operating as proposed and built.

On site dry storage is rated for a long time. >100 years.

The real question is why is the government even contemplating burying spent fuel? Would you fill up a gas tank, use 5% and pour the rest out? 95% of the available energy is still there in "spent" fuel - and recoverable using fast neutron reactors.

In any event, if you put all the spent fuel in the US in one place, it would cover a football field 30 feet high. That's it from 70 years use.

 

[outta_ammo]

I wonder how the grid will handle the additional electric vehicles in 2030?

That's been completly disproven. The alternate theory is just pushed by the fosil fuel industry. Do some fact checking outside of your echo chember.

No disrespect intended.

 

[Racer X]

When the wind dont blow and the Sun dont shine the greenies plan B is..nuclear. Makes good ole all natural crude oil look pretty sweet.

but no one will let nuclear plants be built anymore. Too bad we can't generate electricity from protests and hemp clothing

 

[LDM]

It won't, and that's by design.

Even Elon Musk, himself, said there isn't enough electrical power generation to support an all-electric fleet.

 

[GypsmJim]

When the wind dont blow and the Sun dont shine the greenies plan B is..nuclear. Makes good ole all natural crude oil look pretty sweet.

I have solar on my RV. It keeps my 12 battery fully charged. Obviously, it does not work at night, but it does provide power (at a reduced level) even on cloudy days. In Winter, during the day I still get power generation as long as the snow load on the panel is an inch or less. I am quite satisfied with my system, as it performs 100% for what it was intended for.

I agree with all of the comments on this thread and I'm quite anxious about what the near future will bring. Nevertheless, we all must realize that coal and oil are not finite sources. Eventually they will run out and we will need to be prepared for when that happens.

Maybe it will be 100 years, or a 1000 years. I dunno. I Do know that renewable energy is a start.

 

[Farmer17]

In Oklahoma we have enough windmills to power every house in the state but I believe most of it is sold to other states and most of our electricity is produced from good ole' reliable natural gas.

 

[HardToHandle]

but no one will let nuclear plants be built anymore. Too bad we can't generate electricity from protests and hemp clothing

I don’t want to get the thread locked, but there are some ill-informed folks posting factually incorrect information.

Southern Company is building a new nuclear power plant, Plant Vogtle. It has been a financial fiasco, years after years overdue - Vogtle 3 and 4 | Southern Company

Rocky Mountain Power is planning a new generation nuclear plant - TerraPower, Wyoming Governor and PacifiCorp announce efforts to advance nuclear technology in Wyoming

Both ew plants are effectively dependent on federal government underwriting of the funding, as Wall Street is leery of nuclear projects after the fraud at SCANA - Former SCANA CEO Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud | USAO-SC | Department of Justice

 

[Sistema1927]

Without getting political, this situation is not being driven by science, but by politics.